I take a good long look at her. There are circles under her eyes that the makeup can’t hide, and her eyes are dull with a sheen of alcohol making her look close to tears. She’s lashing out, andof courseI would be the one to receive it.
I turn away from her, not willing to give her the fight see wants. She’s insignificant. I know that hurts, I’ve been inconsequential my entire life until now. She makes that sound in her throat again, a cross between snorting and laughing, but it sounds like she might throw up too. She’s pretending that I don’t matter, and that I’m lying about Ares sleeping, but I don’t need to. It’s the truth.
I feel her as she leans in and tries to whisper, but it comes out louder than intended. “Just wait, he’ll come looking for me, he always does. I’m the only one who really accepts him for what he is.”
“And what is that?” I don’t turn to look at her, but I wait for her answer.
“He’s the boogieman.” She groans like she’s making scary noises to a child.
I turn to face her, calling all the shadows in the roomto me, andit’s as if someone pulled the shades andthe sun is hidden. If she thinks he’s the boogieman, I’m going to show her who she should really fear.
Mia jerks back from me, her eyes wide as she stumbles to get out of the stool and away from me. “You’re a freak too,” she accuses. I don’t even move, I just stare at her. I can feel the icy tendrils of shadows dancing over my skin. I could get in her head, make her see things that aren’t even there, the path is so clear, but I don’t.
Someone touches the back of my neck and in my ear, Ares whispers, “Youdon’t need to do this,Cara.”
“She said you were the boogieman, I don’t like her talking about you like that.” I tilt my head again, staring at Mia. She closes her eyes as if that will make me disappear.
“Deep down she’s always been afraid of me, she could never understand us,Cara, come back.”
I feel contrite the moment I release the darkness. Thank God we’re alone in this room. Ares doesn’t shy away from me, doesn’t even look bothered that I went all dark while we were eating lunch.
I glance over at the others, and Ollie liftsa shrimp off his plate and salutes me with it before dropping it in his mouth. “I’m stuffed, when can we get in the house?”
Chapter 17
“They have until Thursday to get everything out.”
“Thursday?” Ollie whines “Can’t youpay someone to move everything out today?” The fact that they are acting like everything iscompletelynormalisn’t lost on me. I glance quickly at Mia who’s over in thecorner of the room, her back to me. Ares walks over to his stool and leans his hands on the back, blocking her from my view.
“The owners aren’t living there so we cango over andhave another look around, but the moving company wasn’t available until tomorrow,” Ares offers as a concession.
Dante tips his head in Mia’s direction, his eyes narrowed at her back. “What about her?”
“I’ll call her a car, I was just going to let her drive mine back and ride with you guys, but I can see that wasn’t a well thought outplan.”
I look down at my hands and see my trembling fingers. My insides are suffering the same fate. Milo places his heavy palm on my shoulder. I glance up at him, wondering when he moved over to my side and what he thinks of me now. Out of all of them, Milogoes out of his way to make sure henever hurts anyone, and hewatched me use my ability to scare Mia. It doesn’t matter that I did it because I was protecting Ares, as stupid as I know that is. I still did it, would do it again if I ever thought someone threatenedany one of them.
Milo gazes at the other side of the room, watching Mia instead of me. I’ve always thought he had a fondness for her. I almost shrink away from his touch but hold my ground. He may not like what I did, but I can’t even make a promise not to do it again. He’ll either accept me for who and what I am, or he won’t.
His hand slides over my upper back in a soothing motion. A tiny trickle of hopeheisn’t appalled by my behavior has me closing my eyes in relief. I know I just can’t lose my shit in public. I know I probably overreacted, but I don’t regret it.
I look up to see Ares returning to the secluded room. I hadn’t realized he left. He’s tapping away on his phone, not paying much attention. When he looks up, his eyes go to mine and he studies me for a long second, then slides his phone into the inside pocket of his suit coat. Taking a deep breath, he directs his attention to Mia.
She’s gathered herself together in the last few moments. Her back is straight, and I can see her patting her hair back into place. Eventually she turns, finding Ares only a few feet away fromher with his hands tucked into his pockets, drawing the fitted material even tighter across his rump. I look away quickly, irritated at myself for even noticing at a time like this.
“I called a car for you. It shouldn’t be too long.” Ares casts his gaze over her, his eyes shrewd.
Mia tips her chin in the air and she walks with exaggerated slowness over to her stool, then gathers her purse and jacket from the back. Her back is stiff as she makes her way out of the room, giving each of us a wide berth. I think my open show of powers may have scared her a little more than even I was intending.
Ares lets out a huff. “Let me make sure she gets picked up.” He turns to follow Mia out of the room.
Milo takes Ares’s abandoned seat, pushing away his plate. Silence falls over our group and I’m not sure what to say at this point. The side door opens, revealing the waitress again. She gives our group a slight nod with a tight smile. “May I?” She places her hand on Mia’s plate, waiting for an answer.
“Yes, of course.” I stack the plates to make them easier for her to gather. Her presence seems to have broken the proverbial ice. Dante stands, raising his arms up above his head in a languid stretch. “Want to wait in the car?” he rumbles.
“Sounds like a plan.” Ollie jumps up from his seat and Milo is quick to follow.
I’m slower to rise. “The bill,” I murmur, looking to see if the waitress placed it somewhere.
